Daily Republican., 1887-05-19
The Oantata Of Esther.

The Oantata Of Esther.
Tho expsclasious ol the publis ,.om
the Oantats Of Esthef were more than
realised by the large audkn that
flled the Opera House last night. The
curtain rose ut O6 O'Clock, and re-
vealed to on entranced audience bril-.
liant scene. More than 140 persons
stood upon, the stage. Arra,sd In daz
ling costumes awaiting the entrance ol
the proud Hamap, who was one Of the
three leading characters OF the cast, the
King and Queen being the other tive
The conductors OF the captata were
fortunate In their selection of Frederick
o. MCCALL to represent Haman. Tall,
slender and daxzling In his princeiy
costume, he looked every inch lord 81
the great number of nOtAbles and cour
tiers bowed to the f,or In obelsance to
his lordly mein. HamAn was happy,
and smiled o0mplaoently ~ he paced thf
floor. But what 0 changed manner he
presented ~ Aordecai walked ACROSS
the stage.
Miss Marie Stevenson, as Queen
Esther, also bore out the good taste OF
the conductors. Che Hlled her pari
grandly, and was encored In the third
king. She has remarkably clear 30
force and power into her singing.
X. NJ. Zimmerman, OF Philadelphia,
son Of 81. W. Zimmerman, Of this city
ss King Ahasueras, In the rendition Of
his part could not have been excelled
Though suffering from cold his clear
batso voics filled every part OF the loom
b ID stately mein gave him an imposing
appeara 400 as q king, and he manifest
ed manly, kingly pride in his love fol
Queen Esther, who was tho subject Of
his alteration.
Miss Lucy Barnes, ~ Zsreeh. the
wife Of Haman, performed her parl
with wonderful effe.t and great dra
matic power. Her parting with hel
husband, ~ the guards took him away
To hang him On the gallows he had pre-
pared for rdecai, was the most affect
ing incident Of the performance, and
visibly Affected the audience. She had
. very sweet contYaito voice, which she
used very evenly and with great self
pOssesfi0n In her solos.
W. K Walter has . rlch and power ful
tenor voice and Is . local singer ef con
siderable note, to whom the conductors
are under considerable obligations
Besides being . noted singer and 8
splendid actor, he had popular part ol
the cast - representing MOrdecAi. Hit
rich tsnor voice seemed to flow forth
without any exertion, and was appre
ciated by . delighted audience. Nor
decai's sister WAS persOnated by Mist
Anna Starr In strong soprsno voice
and especially fne was she In the sec
ond act when she kneeled as she sans
the solo "In thee, o Lord"
Miss Lille Boothe's rendition OF the
prophecies was very fine and well re.
cetved BY the audience. Mr.. John w
Bratton, ss HegAt, who possessed 8
deep bssso pr0fundo voice. WAS very
loudly encored In the solo in the fourth
act, where he reached the lower b Hat
W. II. Jack as Scribe, T. T. Kellun
as Har6onsh Ed win Gardner as Herald
aud John G. Maaee as High Priest are
ali worthy of special note for the very
fine manner In which they performed
their respective parts.
Tho whole chorus consisted OF over
100 adults, together with nearly Ion
children, boys and girls. Msuy OF tas
chorus were unexceptionally fine, nots
bly, the choruses at the cad of the sec
ond and fifth acts.
The marches were of the most intri
cate and difficult character, and yet no
an error occurred.
The scene looked like an ine xtricabl,
mass Of people moving at random
among each other, and yet In the mos
perfect order, each coming into thei
respective places at tho clote. Tn,
leaders Of the girls march were Misse
Helen Scott and Nellie Todd, and of th,
boys, Calvin and Lsmuel Thorn 81
The wsltzing Of little Misses Bessi,
Blake and Edna Taylor, daughters o
Oouncilmen Blake and Taylor, befor,
the King and Queen seated upon theil
thrOnes, WAS received With an enthusl
astic reoall by the audience.
A quartette in the fifth act wa!
another brilliant feature Of the enter.
tainme II any one feature could b,
| called better than another, and was ex
| tremely SO to Misses BsrDe and Starr
and Messrs. Walters and BrattoD, who
composed 1t.
The entire direction of the csntats
was under tLat experienced musica
manager, John W. Todd, with Nj is
Maggie Wyatt az pianist, who showed
great ability hs musical accompaniss
The orchestra, which was entirely
voluntary, was under the experienced
lead dership of John B. Richie.
The cantata closed about 10 o'cleci
and the entrsncsd audience seemet
! 10th to leave, ut least regretted that /
| was over so soon. 1t will b.
repeated this evening, whom no doub
the most Of those who saw 1t last nigh
will 60 again reinforced By many more
who have not Jet seen 1t. A few moro
seats In ths parqust circle and In tht
balcony Can yet be obtained. A persor
who was IN the balcony last evening
says 1t was rs Pleasant there as in 40 J
other part Of the houee, and the view
WAS equally perfect.